If you're right on a few, and you will be, because, well, odds, ...

He doesn't want the job. and he didn't think he would get the nomination. He's a dumbass, who underestimated the stupidity of the GOP electorate. It's quite astounding.

Lots of play money. It's only play money, but I wouldn't want to lose it.

Not because Trump won't (or wouldn't) in fact be the nominee; but because I'm pretty sure somewhere, in some smoke-filled room, GOP bigwigs are discussing the feasibility of assassinating the intrepid Mr. Trump with some Arthur Bremer-style plot.

The only real difference between this hypothetical plot, and Nixon's in 1972, is that the patsy would be either Muslim or Mexican.

I care about my play money

The last thing any progressive would want is to have the Donald get hurt in any way. One, because it's wrong for all the obvious reasons; and two, because such an incident would turn him into a veritable martyr to these right-wing fanatics.

That said, I think even staunch Hillaristas are beginning to see that only a small miracle will save her chances of becoming our first Madam President - especially if that indictment that the Repigs have up their sleeve comes through, say, in October some time.

And luckily for her (and, I guess, us all) that small miracle may yet avail itself in the form of this guy:

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but his ego is too big to give in.

But the planets are weeiirrddd..

way over his head. I think he'll choose some party insider as the VP candidate, step aside at the last minute, and that person will be nominated by acclimation. Honestly don't think he has any interest in being President and never expected it to get this far.

Why is it that we make it so painful to attain elected office, that it promotes the most unstable people making it to office?

he doesn't want to do the job.

Open question, albeit depressing

that he was nothing more than the genial front man for Cheney and the neocons. The Repuke establishment hates the loose cannon Trump and will gladly strike a lucrative deal with him to bow out in favor of one of their own.

First, the gop leadership should write a speech for him. A big, exciting, motivating, beat-your-chest-with-pride kind of speech with their most fundamental issues and planks included. Tell Donny he has to give that speech. No going off on tangents. He has to fundamentally say what is in that speech in the way that it is written.

Second, he needs to be forewarned about how many voters he'll offend with unsanctioned, off the cuff patronizing, pandering remarks. Voters like women, native americans, hispanics, etc, etc. When he goes off the rails in giving the speech, and we all know he can't resist doing that, that should disqualify him from public office. The gop should be ready to say they'd rather have HRC than a scary, narcisstic, patronizing, pugilistic blowhard who can't even deliver an informative speech with dignity.

he stood his marks and he read his lines. No problem. Nothing like a second rate actor for your figurehead.

that they don't know how damaging the crap is going to be. I almost feel sorry for them, but it's their own fault.

Ages ago, I felt like the gop was due some credit. Not for what they stood for, but for the mastery in how they accomplished their political objectives, evil as both were. Donny will eventually have decent, considerate people abandoning the gop like I'd abandon a dead possum on the road surrounded by live skunks.

really angry, hurt and ready to quit. The remarks are funny and make him look like a huuuuge loser. Something he cannot tolerate. I bet he quits before the end of June, IMO..

The longer he waits, the more difficult it may be for him to quit.. from his view, of course...

He'll just say they weren't being fair to him. Doesn't matter who they are or what they did, that will be enough.

Or something before election day. Either he'll chicken out and come up with some excuse or there is still some sort someone has out there on him that is a campaign killer. He acts like someone who doesn't want to be there and I'm about 99% sure he won't be on the ballot.

That could not possibly be further removed from reality.

The man is eating every moment of this up.

They will either throw the election to the Democratic candidate, or try to force it into the House for a vote where we will end up with a third place finisher as President.

They'll pull him out at the convention, he'll win on fifth count . He'll still lose in November but at least the GOP won't be totally embarassed.

He picked the wrong years to run.

I was wrong.

Donald the Ultra-Narcissist will accept the nomination or if Donald the (sometimes) shrewd businessman will fold and walk away from the poker table.

There is a distinct possibility that he knows he is going to be crushed in November. He must know that the skeletons in his closet are numerous. The media will find a way to expose them. The media lapped ratings from building him up; they will think it's their privilege to tear him down.

Romney is still being pursued -- god knows by whom -- to run a third party campaign. Just what's needed at this point in the process -- a spiritless corporate robot who tortures dogs.

I think he will go all the way to November and lose.

Any prediction there?

You read that prediction here.

Of course, it may be a "coincidence" that he's being extradited to the US. Just sayin'....

who want an alternative party are going to need a ticket.

I don't think ballot access will be anything other than a headache for them... they can do it if they get their butts in gear, hire the right lawyers in each state, and mount a full-court press. Getting late, but still doable.

Money also is not going to be a problem. The aforementioned fat-cats have more money than they know what to do with. There isn't going to be a money problem.

But they have to decide quickly that they're going ahead with it. Sand's slipping thru the hourglass at a fast rate.

They'll have to forge a ticket. A lot of Republicans won't undertake an effort like this. But a good number will. The fat-cats are offering power and glory -- and they're picking up the tab.

And even if they lose the election, they've shoved the far Right off the train and have positioned themselves for control in subsequent cycles.

If they want to do this, they can.

Hillary gets indicted and Trump drops out. Both parties scramble for candidates. Who wins? Gary Johnson?

defeat on a mass scale.

The demographics suggest that Trump cannot win high-enough percentages in swing states to reasonably compete in the electoral college. The election will string him out something fierce. He will fray at media questions. Investigative reporting may reveal a pile of skeletons in his basement.

He ain't gonna like it much.

I could see him blaming the GOP power brokers for "betraying" him and stomping off the stage in Cleveland.

Don't ask me what happens after that.

activity for a presumptive nominee in swing states like Ohio, but there is not:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-lags-behind-hillary-clinton-in-organizing-key-states-1463945208

Does this mean Trump is not taking his own campaign seriously?

Does it mean he doesn't know that Ohio is where the GOP convention will be held?

Does it mean he's so damned arrogant that he thinks he's going to win without lifting a finger?

The state GOP is not doing anything to advance Trump in Ohio, at least not on the level they did for Romney, Bush, Bush, Dole, etc.

Puzzlin' evidence.

Other than how to yell, insult, scream, piss on everything.
He is a very insecure, frightened, emotionally and mentally disturbed little person..

And many/most people here know a lot more than I do about what is what politically.

conversation on an event that is yet to happen, though, and that's a healthy thing.

I can see Trump realizing at some point that the longer he continues the charade of himself as a global leader the greater his chances of global humiliation. It just doesn't seem as if someone with such a massive ego like Trump could risk massive humiliation.

Boastfulness and bigotry got him through the GOP primary, but the game is about to change. I think your assessment of his personality is a bingo.

see the piece in the June Atlantic on Trump?

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/the-mind-of-donald-trump/480771/

It's a good read. Order a pizza, grab a cold beer, and dive in.

YIKES !! Not sure I have the intestinal fortitude to read it all.. The idea of a few beers on their own sounds much more rewarding.

is unsettling (at best).

There's always this ugly, coarse, underbelly to U.S. politics... and it's flaring once again.

He is a con man, who has spent his entire life separating people from their money and using the same process to separate people from their votes.

This country is now locked in a life and death battle for its soul, the stupid vs people of reason and common sense.

Donald Trump is absolutely eating every moment of this up.

Its the ultimate con job.

He is going to walk away from that?

You could not possible be more wrong ...

egomaniac like Trump would strive to avoid humiliation.

There's a statistical chance he could be elected in November, but there's significant evidenced-based chance that he's going to be crushed. He's used racist and ethnic slurs and misogynist attacks to shove his GOP opponents out of the primary field, but the road from this point forward is a lot tougher.

There's no evidence that Trump's ability to conduct a national campaign is any match for his yuuuge ego. I could see him manufacturing a crisis as a smokescreen to exit the race.

literally has never happened.

Egomaniacs by definition think they are going to win every time.

FURTHER, he was polling at 1 percent when he came into the republican primary and had the nomination in a choke hold before it even started, and is in better shape now than anyone predicted.

You could not possibly be more wrong.

This man absolutely thinks he is going to win, as fucking unfathonable as it may be to you or me, this country is in a life or death battle between the stupid and the non-stupid, and he has the stupid totally on board.

He is going to be on the ballot November 8.

No ifs, ands or buts.

or not.

There's a revealing feature article in the June Atlantic on Trump's psychological constitution.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/the-mind-of-donald-trump/480771/

There is a passage about narcissists:

As long as they prove to be successful and brilliant...they may be able to weather criticism and retain their exalted status. But more often than not, narcissists wear out their welcome. Over time, people become annoyed, if not infuriated, by their self-centeredness. When narcissists begin to disappoint those whom they once dazzled, their descent can be especially precipitous. There is still truth today in the ancient proverb: Pride goeth before the fall.

I fear that the stupid will prevail and we are stuck in a nightmare.

No doubt he is a con man,,

The guy is at heart, a coward..

He hates to lose and will do whatever it takes to avoid personal humiliation.

I'm not sure what that will look like but he has never seemed completely serious to me. He seems to enjoy the game-playing aspect of campaigning and manipulating his followers like puppets on strings.

If his intent was to pull the curtain back on the real political process and the sheer idiocy of right wing voters, he deserves a lot of credit... I actually think this is his intent.

He is a classic inner coward - in the sense of being afraid of look at and studying himself --this avoiding the awful truth.

You would be making a very poor bet.